Adequate quantity of rice imported at Hili land port in Dinajpur has affected the price of the product.

As a result, the price of rice in Hili has come down by a maximum of Tk 5 per kg in a few days. Importers and traders say that if rice imports increase further, the price of the product in Healy is likely to fall further than at present.

According to the Healy Land Port Customs Station Office, the government had fixed the import duty on rice at 62.5 per cent to ensure a fair price for paddy and rice produced by local farmers and to discourage rice imports. At one stage the import of rice was stopped as it was not read. This time in the season full of aman, the price of rice has gone out of control for several months. The government decided to import rice from different countries including India to control the price. Accordingly, various importers of the country including Healy were allowed to import seven lakh tonnes of rice. At the same time, the government reduced the import duty on rice from 62.5% to 15% in two phases. As a result, after a long year and a half, rice import from India through Healy land port started on January 9.

Sunbd/NJ